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CHECK POINT SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES DEBUTS FIRST CENTRALIZED NETWORK POLICY MANAGEMENT SOLUTION FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS

Check Point Provider-1 Enables New Revenue Opportunities for ISPs and Telcos Offering Managed Services to Multiple Corporate Customers

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Nov. 23, 1998 – Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., the worldwide leader in Secure Enterprise Networking solutions, today unveiled the industry's first solution for centrally creating and managing the network security policies of multiple corporate customers. Check Point Provider-1™ pairs its network security capabilities, built upon Check Point™ FireWall-1 technology, with streamlined management capabilities developed specifically for Managed Service Providers (MSPs).

Provider-1 represents a breakthrough for MSPs, enabling the management of network security and virtual private networks (VPNs) for multiple customers to run concurrently on one hardware server while maintaining full isolation between individual customer databases. This new capability dramatically lowers high hardware and personnel costs previously associated with managed security services delivery. In the past, MSPs wanting to offer managed security services had to install a dedicated management station to manage each customer's network security functions. Provider-1 will significantly expand profit opportunities for MSPs who can now manage hundreds of customers with thousands of firewalls with additional cost savings accruing as the managed services customer base expands. New customers can be served with little or no increase in management hardware or personnel investment.

"This is a thoughtfully designed product that simplifies a complex, expensive process for service providers," said John McConnell, president of McConnell Associates, a Boulder, Colorado-based research firm. "Service providers have many policy domains to administer and Provider-1 will provide them with an economical solution that provides better service for a disparate set of customers, and at the same time reduces the staffing loads for the providers."


Industry-Leading Service Providers Recognize Provider-1's Benefits

"Check Point is showing an understanding of the managed security service industry's requirements by delivering Provider-1 to its corporate customers," said Mike Shumway, director of Managed Internet Security at GTE Internetworking. "As a leading Managed Internet Security provider, GTE Internetworking supports Check Point's initiative to meet customer needs through centralized management of network security policies."

"Check Point has consistently provided us with the manageable, cost-effective and scaleable tools that help us meet the comprehensive network security needs of our customers," said Gene Noble vice president for Data Services at Intermedia Communications Inc., formerly DIGEX Inc. Intermedia's Managed Firewall Service, featuring Check Point's integrated network security solutions, recently received won RFP for Managed Firewall Services in the November issue of Network Computing magazine.

"With the introduction of Provider-1, Check Point clearly has differentiated itself from other companies claiming to offer high-level management capabilities for the service provider, " said Mark Sims, CEO and president of Netrex, Inc. "Provider-1 will enable us to effectively manage not just security services for our customers, but to extend into the management of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) as well."

Market-wide rollout of Provider-1 is a natural extension of Check Point's established leadership position in the ISP market. Eight of the top 11 ISPs and telcos currently offer managed security services based on FireWall-1, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) report, "U.S. Managed Security Services: Market Overview and Forecast, 1997-2002."

"The managed services arena is where the next battle for corporate customers is being fought and Provider-1 offers a formidable advantage," said Asheem Chandna, vice president of marketing and business development, Check Point Software Technologies, Inc. "Check Point's dominance in the secure enterprise networking market, our strong brand equity and Provider-1's central management efficiencies all offer MSPs high investment protection and a new, valuable way to acquire and retain customers."

Provider-1 further demonstrates Check Point's commitment to the managed services market. An IDC report published in July 1998, entitled "The Worldwide Firewall Market, 1997, " highlighted Check Point's impressive entry last year into the ISP and MSP markets. "Check Point announced agreements with a number of ISPs and managed firewall service providers, grabbing a dominant position in this high-growth market, " the report stated. "The high availability and centralized management features of Check Point's [network security solutions] continue to give it the leadership position for environments that require multiple firewalls to operate in parallel or to be based on the same security policy. "


About Check Point Provider-1

Provider-1 highlights include:

  • Economies of scale: Check Point enables the installation of up to 50 FireWall-1/ VPN-1 Management Consoles on a single hardware server. From these hardware servers, customers are assigned their own dedicated management server, regardless of the number of firewalls.
  • The ability to create a management server "farm": Through its unique cascading technique, Provider-1 offers a scalable solution. While maintaining the consolidated customer view, hardware servers can easily be added as managed services grow, keeping initial and incremental investment costs low.
  • Advanced graphical user interface (GUI): Consistent with other Check Point products, Provider-1 offers an easy-to-use GUI for management, monitoring status and alert information of the entire customer base.
  • Distributed management and control: Using FireWall-1/VPN-1's security policy editor, many administrators can concurrently manage multiple customers' security policies, using encrypted communications. MSPs can also delegate selected management functions (e.g. user management) to customer sites while retaining control over other core management functions (e.g. security policy management).
  • Smart log and alert redirection: Provider-1 utilizes a FireWall-1/VPN-1 mechanism that allows logs and alerts to be redirected to many different destinations, either in real-time or on a predefined schedule. This Customer Log Module (CLM) allows customers to have on-line access to their own logs.


Pricing and Availability

Provider-1 pricing varies according to the specific customer configuration and is available later this quarter.


About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKPF) is the worldwide leader in Secure Enterprise Networking solutions. The company's integrated architecture includes network security (FireWall-1, VPN-1 and Open Security Manager), traffic control (FloodGate-1 and ConnectControl) and IP address management (Meta IP). Check Point solutions enable customers to implement centralized policy-based management with enterprise-wide distributed deployment. Via the OPSEC Alliance, Check Point's products seamlessly integrate with "best-of-breed" products from more than 160 leading industry partners. The company has U.S. headquarters in Redwood City, California and international headquarters in Ramat-Gan, Israel. For more information, please call (800) 429-4391 or (650) 628-2000 or visit http://www.checkpoint.com or http://www.opsec.com

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1998 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Check Point, the Check Point logo, ConnectControl, FireWall-1, FloodGate-1, INSPECT, Meta IP, Open Security Manager, OPSEC, RemoteLink, SecuRemote, VPN-1, UAM and IQ Engine are trademarks or registered trademarks of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.